


Making Time For You

by minthyuk



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Homophobic Language, M/M, Time Travel, slight Star Trek AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 16:45:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11718405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minthyuk/pseuds/minthyuk
Summary: Chanyeol lives a dull life marooned on a space dock in the Alpha quadrant. But when he manages to fall for a mysterious man from the past, he'll break every regulation just to be by his side.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello im back hopefully i wont delete this in a month lol
> 
> ANYWAYS welcome!!! i love star trek and have encyclopedic knowledge about it so i tend to forget that not everyone knows it like i do and that might lead to some things being weird or unexplained in the fic? terribly sorry about that!! if anything seems confusing just let me know in a comment!
> 
> also some things: chanyeol is half human, half betazoid in this fic! betazoids are almost identical to humans but they have black irises and usually dark hair. they also have telepathic abilities! betazoids communicate with other betazoids entirely by telepathy instead of spoken word. chanyeol's telepathic abilities are not as strong due to being only half betazoid; whereas full betazoids can detect entire complete thoughts, he can usually only glean feelings and whether the person is lying or not. 
> 
> whew...alright, enjoy the fic!

     Chanyeol loves people. Ever since he was a child, he’s known that people, humans specifically, are the most interesting thing this universe can muster. And not just talking to them; no, it’s much more complex than that. Chanyeol is fascinated by everything about humans and their brains, and what their brains make them say and do. Can a human truly be born evil, or is hatred a learned behavior? Questions like this have kept him awake at night since his teenage years.

     Being half Betazoid himself, Chanyeol finds it most interesting when humans say one thing, but think something entirely contradictory. Betazoids are telepathic; no matter what they want someone to think, their thoughts are always being broadcast to other Betazoids, and vice versa. But humans, who don’t have this ability, lie so much that it’s practically a part of their culture. Chanyeol can’t get enough of humans and their contrary natures.

     This is why he finds himself spending his days with Kai, the most notorious conman this side of the Milky Way. Kai sells what he claims are ancient relics salvaged from the ruins of Earth, created before humankind shot an arrow at his own foot. His trinkets range from tattered clothes to worn-out paintings, and every item comes with an embellished tale from the great fraud himself. Today, though, it’s not Kai’s mannerisms that have caught Chanyeol’s attention; it’s a small, dilapidated journal, frayed at the edges and hanging onto its spine by a thread.

     “Hey, Kai,” Chanyeol calls out, “what is this?” He takes the precaution of pointing to the journal instead of touching it; it looks like it could collapse into dust at any second.

     Kai, however, doesn’t catch on to Chanyeol’s safety measure, and picks it right up. “This? It was found a couple of weeks ago, down on that disfigured rock my kind used to call home…” Chanyeol rolled his eyes at Kai’s theatrics, but knew he was telling the truth. “So far, no one’s wanted it because it’s not written in Standard.”

     Chanyeol perked up at that. “Not in Standard? What is it written in?”

     Carefully leafing through the pages, Kai sighed. “I’m not actually sure…why don’t you have a look at it? Maybe you’d be able to tell.” He hands the journal off to Chanyeol, then goes back to making up some wild sales pitch about a broken wind chime.

     Chanyeol carefully thumbs through the journal, opens up to a random page, and nearly drops it in shock. “This is…this is in Korean!”

     His outburst scares away Kai’s potential customer, and Kai mutters a curse before turning to him. “It’s in Korean? Hey, my grandma can speak Korean!”

     “Mine, too,” Chanyeol mumbles, studying the pages closer to confirm that it is, in fact, written in Korean. He’s never met someone outside his family that could speak it. He felt giddy at his discovery and startled Kai when he nearly shouted, “how much for this?!”

     Currency is a thing of the past for Earth colonies, even on space docks like the one Kai and Chanyeol reside on. So Kai sells his treasures for food ration cards. Chanyeol knows he uses them to feed the orphaned kids running around the port, even though he vehemently denies it. You can’t lie to a Betazoid.

     Kai jokingly warns Chanyeol not to stay up all night reading it, but Chanyeol is already on his way back to his room, his nose in the pages of the dusty journal.

 

* * *

 

     Hunched over his desk with a lamp trained on the journal, Chanyeol quickly realizes this is someone’s personal diary. He briefly feels bad for violating some poor soul’s privacy, but shoves the feeling away in the name of scientific discovery. He takes a deep breath, flattens out the page as best he can, and starts reading the very first entry.

 

_My name is Kyungsoo. Today is June 10 th, 2010. My summer vacation from school starts today, so my mom bought me this journal to keep track of what I do over the summer. _ _Today was normal. Mom left with her new boyfriend today, and won’t be back until Sunday, so it’s just me and Yejin until then. I will have to make dinner for myself tomorrow and Saturday night. I hope we have enough noodles to make spaghetti. Tonight, I will also start on my summer assignments. I hope Yejin doesn’t puke on my essay this year._

 

     Chanyeol felt that this Kyungsoo person was, without a doubt, the most boring soul to have ever lived. That first journal entry was so bland it seemed like it was written by a little child, yet the writing was so tidy that didn’t seem likely. Chanyeol decided that just one entry wasn’t enough to go by, and decided to look at some more.

 

_June 11 th, 2010. Stressful day._

_June 12 th, 2010. Relaxing day._

_June 13 th, 2010. Mom and her boyfriend returned today. I had a headache._

_June 14 th, 2010. Yejin ran into the front yard and chased a rabbit. A relaxing day._

_June 15 th, 2010. Normal day. I lost my glasses, but found them before dinnertime._

     Nope, this was definitely the most boring person who had ever lived. There were four more bland days, then a longer entry on the 20th that caught his eye.

 

_June 20 th, 2010. Today is father’s day. I wanted to send a letter to my real father in South Korea like I normally do, but mom said I couldn’t this year because it would take too long to get there. Then she scolded me because I didn’t get her boyfriend a father’s day card. I apologized, even though I didn’t think I was in the wrong. Why should I get him a father’s day card? I barely know him. We’re nothing but roommates, acquaintances at best. And I don’t like how he treats her. But when I say this to her, she says I should be grateful he’s letting us live with him. She also said I should hold my tongue around my elders, and that I’ve been in America too long. But it was her decision to come here when I was so young. I feel frustrated. I already have my license, so I’ll get a job and start saving up money so I can move out as soon as I graduate next year. Also, Yejin fell asleep in my lap today. It was very cute._

 

     Ah, now that’s more like it. Maybe this Kyungsoo from the past wasn’t as boring as Chanyeol initially thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me a few days to write this chapter because after i caught myself up at 2am with 5 different tabs open about the timeline of star trek and human genetic engineering, i thought, "maybe i'm in too deep." i had to create a whole new timeline separate from star trek canon so this fic would make sense in my head, but it doesn't really have anything to do with the fic itself, i'm just a perfectionist. 
> 
> also i added some tags, so please check them out before reading!! thank you!

“Hello? Hello, Chanyeol? Can you hear me?”

Chanyeol grimaced, holding the communicator away from his ears. His mother’s hearing must be getting worse for her to be yelling like that.

“Yes, mom, I can hear you. A bit too well.” This prompted a cackle from his mom, despite Chanyeol thinking it wasn’t that funny. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from grinning.

His mom sighed. “I miss you more every day, you know that? I wish you could come see me.”

Chanyeol agreed. As a (half) human with no desire to enter Starfleet, he’d been drafted into what could only be called a breeding program, humanity’s last ditch attempt to increase their population after all but 1% of them was wiped out years ago. They would only allow him to leave if he wanted to enter Starfleet or if he had children, but he didn’t see either of those things happening soon. It was all very shady and hush-hush; the only other species to know about it were Vulcans, who thought it was all quite logical, and admitted they might do the same if they were in a similar situation. After hearing this, Chanyeol considered all Vulcans to be emotionless, walking corpses.

With a mischievous smile, he said, “maybe I’ll get so desperate to see you that I’ll finally give you some grandkids.”

His mother cackled again, and a bittersweet feeling bloomed in his chest. Of course he wanted to leave, but he was a scaredy-cat, he’d never make it in Starfleet. He was also a sap, he didn’t want to have a child with someone and then abandon them at the first chance he got. He was still waiting for true love, even though he knew he wouldn’t find it in this place.

He swallowed down his gloom and said, “mom, I want to tell you about something I found.”

His mom followed his change in tone, quieting her laughter. “What is it?” she asked.

“I found a notebook from Earth. It was written before the bombs, it’s-it’s from 2012. And it’s written in Korean.” He felt a weight off his shoulders for some reason, but couldn’t fathom why.

“Ooh,” his mother nearly cooed, “that is interesting. Maybe there’s some juicy terran gossip in there. Tell me all about it if you find any!”

Chanyeol tried to imagine Kyungsoo, who seemed so reserved, engaging in gossip. Despite only knowing him from a few of his journal entries that were decades old, he thought it seemed out of character for him. Regardless, he assured his mom he’d deliver some ‘juicy terran gossip’ if he found any. He did relay what he had read so far though, even the part about Kyungsoo disliking his mom’s new boyfriend. His mom considered this gossip, but he had to disagree.

At that point, he was about to run out of phone credits, so he promised his mom he’d call as soon as he got some more. It was sort of an unspoken thing; Chanyeol would call his mom once every two weeks and talk for about fifteen minutes. He got one phone credit a day, which was good for one minute, and he much preferred one fourteen-minute call to fourteen one-minute calls.

“I’ll talk to you later, then. I hope I can see you soon, Chanyeol. I love you.”

Chanyeol always teared up when saying goodbye to his mom. It made him feel like a homesick little kid trapped at a sleepover with no ride home.

 

* * *

 

 

If Kai noticed how Chanyeol sniffled into his liquor after calling his mom, he never mentions it. Chanyeol is grateful for that. The bar on the dock is small, but well-stocked, which was always surprising to Chanyeol. Kai had put it this way; _‘if getting people drunk makes them make babies together, that’s what Starfleet wants, isn’t it?’_

Chanyeol wiped his nose on his sleeve and downed two more shots of something Kai had ordered, then chased it with a tall glass of jestral tea. He was startled to find Kai staring at him, feeling the unease rolling off of him.

“What?” Chanyeol barked.

“You’re grumpier than usual today,” Kai mused. He gestured to Chanyeol’s glasses, “I can’t tell, are you trying to relax, or not? Alcohol and jestral tea might cancel each other out.”

Chanyeol felt like the comment should irk him, but he found a smile on his face before he could stop it. “Be quiet. I’m thinking of going to bed early tonight, I’m tired.”

Kai just hummed in understanding as his eyes skimmed the other bar patrons. Suddenly he nudged Chanyeol with a sharp elbow, whispering through his teeth, “don’t look now, but someone across the bar is checking you out.”

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Even if he was interested in romancing anyone, it was always the same with them. They usually only wanted to know if sex was different with a telepath, and after they realized it wasn’t, they’d move on. It irked Chanyeol to no end. Here he was, barely a non-virgin, and he was considered some kind of sex god just because he could feel other people’s emotions. He wanted to wear a big sign that said, _‘telepaths are people too!’_ or something along those lines.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t tamp down his curiosity, and subtly glanced over to where Kai was looking. Seated perpendicular to them was a decently attractive woman with long, soft curls falling onto her cleavage. Chanyeol could feel the desire coming from her like it was something tangible washing over him. It made him feel itchy.

He was about to excuse himself when she left her seat, and Kai kept Chanyeol in his with a firm hand on his thigh. “I think she’s coming over here,” he whispered.

Chanyeol stayed, but only because he considered giving her a definite no would be better than running away. She sauntered over, sipping from a glass as she came, and stopped behind his stool. From up close in the terrible bar lighting, she looked like a goblin, her garish makeup doing her no justice. “Hey there,” she began, “wanna come back to my room for the night?”

Wow. Right to the point, then. Chanyeol cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh, no thanks. Have a nice night,” he tried with a smile, but he could feel the shift in her mood.

“But don’t _you_ want to have a nice night, too?” she pouted, and Chanyeol nearly cringed from how immature it made her look.

Chanyeol felt the guilt trickling out from Kai, who must’ve thought Chanyeol would be interested. “Hey, you heard him, no means no. There’s plenty of other guys in here, so just leave us alone,” Kai said bravely.

The woman gave a little scoff, then her eyes drifted down to where Kai’s hand was still secure on Chanyeol’s thigh. Chanyeol felt bile rise in his throat at the sheer _disgust_ being broadcast from her. “Ugh, I should’ve known. Fucking fags, why are you even here?” She stalked off, leaving Chanyeol feeling sick and Kai feeling even guiltier.

He couldn’t say no when Kai offered to walk him back to his room, feeling just how remorseful Kai was about the whole situation. They stopped in front of Chanyeol’s closed door, and a silence ensued.

“I’m sorry about all that. If I had known you weren’t interested, I would’ve shooed her away a lot sooner,” Kai blurted.

Chanyeol managed a small smile. Dealing with that much negative emotion around him at once was taxing on him, not only as a Betazoid but as a person. It hurt his heart to feel so much negativity. Kai knew this, and offered him a hug, which Chanyeol had to refuse. It still didn’t feel right. Kai apologized again, and it made Chanyeol feel even worse. At least he hadn’t offered to come sleep with him or something.

“Hey, if you want, I could spend the night?”

Fuck.

Chanyeol felt himself blush at the implication, and stepped closer to his door. “No, that’s fine…I’ll be fine. On my own. Uh…goodnight, Kai.” With that, he scooted into his room as fast as he could. Chanyeol felt nothing but friendship for Kai, but every now and then he felt a little residual ember coming from the fire they once shared, and he wondered if Kai would ever get over him.

Feeling defeated, Chanyeol curled up in his bed, which was much too big for him alone. The stiff blankets felt colder than usual tonight. If he tried to sleep now, he was sure he’d just lie awake for hours in his own misery. He needed a distraction.

His eyes fell to the dilapidated journal on his nightstand. Yeah, that would do as a distraction. He opened up to where he left off a few days ago and started reading Kyungsoo’s journal.

 

_June 24 th, 2010. I’ve finished my summer assignments. It only took me two weeks. Now I have nothing to do._

_June 26 th, 2010. We went to the pool today. Mom said I am getting chubby, but her boyfriend said I’m only filling out as a man. Maybe he isn’t so bad._

_June 28 th, 2010. I still have nothing to do. This morning, I burnt my toast and dropped it on the floor when I tried to put it in the trash, but before I could pick it up, Yejin grabbed it in her mouth and ran away. I read that eating burned toast can cause cancer, so I might take her to the vet sooner than I planned._

 

When Chanyeol turned the next page, still giggling at the image of a cat running around with burnt toast, a picture fell out from between the pages and onto his tummy. He examined it and saw the ugliest cat he’d ever had the displeasure of seeing. On the back of the old picture was Kyungsoo’s neat handwriting, _‘Yejin on her fifth birthday. November 2 nd, 2009.’_ Chanyeol tried to replace the cute Yejin he had imagined with this foul beast, but he had a hard time. He felt betrayed.

Deciding that was enough reading for tonight, he carefully tucked the picture back into the journal and set it beside him on the bed. Despite having such a stressful evening, he slept like a baby, dreaming of Kyungsoo’s ugly but unreasonably fluffy cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooohhoohooh backstory amirite !!!  
> anyways, thanks for reading! lots more to come if i can get my butt in gear and stop getting lost in the memory alpha wiki


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait!!! hope you like it!!

     Chanyeol overslept the next morning, something he hadn’t done in a long time. He’d slept right through his first alarm, and when he flung his arm towards his side table to silence the second alarm, he heard something fall on the floor next to his bed. He sat upright and peeked at the floor to see Kyungsoo’s journal, which had been on the other side of the bed when he went to sleep, opened and on the floor.

     Had he clutched it to his chest in his sleep? _I’m becoming more pathetic by the day,_ he thought. Carefully, he picked the journal up and set it on his desk, out of harm’s way.

     Other than grogginess from oversleeping, he felt great-better than he normally does after waking up. He stretched his arms over his head before realizing he’d slept through the beginning of his shift in the cafeteria.

     There are a few odd jobs available on the space dock; ‘distractions’ is what most people call them. Something to keep them occupied before they embrace the inevitable and have a child with someone, _anyone_ else who’s still stuck here. Chanyeol has been here for two years-or was it three?-and is still going pretty strong at this whole ‘resisting copulation’ thing. He quickly changed into his regulation jumpsuit and jogged to the cafeteria to face the music.

 

* * *

 

 

     The cafeteria had one big long line for food and several smaller counters for drinks. Chanyeol worked at one of the smaller juice bars with two others, Baekhyun and Junmyeon. Even though they were all coworkers, Baekhyun liked to pretend he was in charge for some reason.

     Sure enough, Baekhyun was fuming when Chanyeol finally arrived. “You’re late!” was the first thing out of his mouth when he saw the taller man.

     “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I overslept,” he placated, hurriedly putting on his apron that was more for decoration than anything.

     “I was supposed to be home over an hour ago! I can’t be waiting around on you forever, I have a kid on the way, y’know!” Baekhyun fumed.

     Ah, Baekhyun and his talent for stating the obvious. “Really? Congratulations!” Chanyeol beamed, pretending Baekhyun hadn’t already told them twenty times.

     Baekhyun fought a smile, though, and Chanyeol could feel Baekhyun’s pride surging through him. Say what you want about Baekhyun, but he was definitely going to be a good dad.

     Junmyeon stepped in, “go on home to her, then. You shouldn’t keep her waiting much longer.”

     Baekhyun nodded and removed his apron, then he was off in the direction of the dorms. Junmyeon sighed when he was out of earshot. “You’ve gotten really good at handling his moods,” he commented.

     Chanyeol gestured to himself. “Yeah, well, y’know. My species is kind of known for that.”

     “Ah, that’s right! You look so human, I always forget you’re an alien,” Junmyeon joked.

     Chanyeol laughed, he does get that a lot. “Only half-alien! And anyways, what are you doing here? We only need one person on duty, so I can take it from here.”

     Junmyeon said sheepishly, “Baekhyun called me after you didn’t come in, so I came to cover your shift until you got here. But even after I got here, he stayed because he wanted to chew you out himself. He’s a weird one.”

     Chanyeol gave a dry laugh. That sounds like something Baekhyun would do. “So if I hadn’t come in today, then…”

     Junmyeon started taking off his apron and replied, “then his poor, pregnant girlfriend would’ve been home alone all day, with no one to rub her feet.”

     Chanyeol made a face, and Junmyeon let out a full, gorgeous laugh. “No wonder you’re still here! Someday, you’ll have to rub someone’s feet too!”

     Chanyeol laughed with him, then nudged Junmyeon’s leg with his foot. “Get out of here already, you’re distracting me from my work!” Junmyeon relented and told him goodbye, then left.

     After making himself a lemonade, Chanyeol pulled up a barstool and took a seat behind the counter. The breakfast rush had already passed, and it was pretty dull until lunch rolled around. Maybe he should’ve brought the journal to pass some time…

     Chanyeol was spacing out, sipping on his lemonade, and didn’t even notice someone sitting in front of the bar until they called out to him. “Hello? Are you open?”

     After nearly dropping his glass in a panic, Chanyeol realized it was only Kai giving him a hard time. “Kai, you scared the hell out of me! Can I get you anything?”

     Kai laughed, his eyes scrunching in a cute way. “No, I don’t want anything. I’m saving up my ration cards this week.” Chanyeol nodded, unconvinced. Kai continued, “I’ll have a sip of what you’re having, though.”

     Chanyeol hoped he wouldn’t blush, but he felt his cheeks warming anyway. Kai laughed again, and exclaimed, “you should’ve seen the look on your face!”

     Chanyeol pouted. Just as he was about to say something else, a third person approached them. “Hey, is this seat taken?”

     Thinking it was another customer, Chanyeol let him sit, but Kai nearly shouted when he saw who it was. “Minseok! I thought you went to Starfleet! What are you doing back here?!”

     The man, Minseok, grinned in a way that showed all his teeth and somehow looked both mischievous and innocent. “I got kicked out. I tried stealing a shuttlecraft because I was gonna bust you out of here.”

     Kai bellowed a laugh, slapping Minseok on the shoulder. “So now you’re stuck with us again, huh? So much for Starfleet,” he sighed.

     That was when Kai realized Chanyeol looked confused, and explained. “Ah, Chanyeol, this is Minseok! He’s a lot older than us. As you heard, he was able to leave because he entered Starfleet academy.”

     Minseok nodded, and Chanyeol gave a polite little bow. “So you were really in Starfleet?” Chanyeol asked.

     “Yup, I was! I was a pilot in the academy. I had just started my first mission in an actual starship as an ensign, but I tried to steal a shuttlecraft, so they kicked me out and I got sent back here,” he explained.

     Chanyeol clenched his fists. “That doesn’t make any sense! Even if you got kicked out, you shouldn’t have to come back here!”

     Minseok didn’t seem nearly as concerned, and he shrugged at Chanyeol’s outburst. “Yeah, I agree, but what can you do? I guess now I have to knock someone up, or else they’ll keep me here until I’m sterile.”

     “How can you just _accept_ that, though?!” Chanyeol shouted, and quite a few people were staring now. He cleared his throat and smoothed out his apron despite it not being wrinkled. Then, quieter, he said, “I mean, they can’t just…keep us here…it’s wrong.”

     Kai reached for Chanyeol’s hand, probably looking to soothe, but it only made Chanyeol remember what happened last night. He snatched his hand away and tried to pretend he didn’t feel the hurt radiating off of Kai.

     Kai abruptly stood then, pointedly not looking at Chanyeol. “Well, I better get to work. Come by if you want, Minseok.”

     Then Chanyeol and Minseok were alone. Chanyeol tried again, “can I get you anything?”

     “Sure!” Minseok chirped, then he spent an ungodly amount of time deciding what he wanted from the drink menu. Chanyeol didn’t know if he liked Minseok.

 

* * *

 

 

     After his shift ended, he decided it would be best to avoid Kai, and went straight to his room instead of the bar. It wasn’t late enough to go to sleep yet, so Chanyeol again found himself flipping through the journal to kill time. He skipped a lot of the entries until a longer one caught his eye.

 

_July 4 th, 2010. Today is July 4th, so mom’s boyfriend invited us to a cook out at his parent’s house. A lot of his family was there. I felt a little uncomfortable around so many strangers, but he introduced me to everyone and made sure I was having a good time. He hasn’t been as mean to mom recently either. Maybe he isn’t as bad as I originally thought. Mom, however, was being obnoxious because she wanted to go home and couldn’t stand the fireworks. She says his parents don’t like her, but I think it’s just her that doesn’t like them. They were pretty nice to me. There were no other kids my age there, but it was still fun. I think it’s the most fun I’ve ever had on July 4th. I also bought Yejin a little American flag cape, and she wore it for most of the day. She looked very cute._

     Sure enough, another picture of Yejin was wedged between the pages. This time, she was adorned in a red, white, and blue hat, and an American flag cape, just as Kyungsoo had described. Chanyeol had to admit she _did_ look pretty cute.

     Chanyeol found it odd how they celebrated July 4th, though. He’d have to look up what a ‘firework’ is. He couldn’t remember the last time he had celebrated anything; he missed having birthdays with his mom.

     He quickly abandoned the thought and kept flipping through, trying to find something to distract him from his melancholy thoughts.

 

_July 10 th, 2010. I can still hear people setting off fireworks at night. It’s gotten to be obnoxious. Today, mom’s boyfriend’s sister had a baby. She wasn’t at the party last week because she was so pregnant she didn’t want to go anywhere. He went to be with her and meet the baby, and I went with him because I had nothing better to do. Newborn babies are so small, it was my first time holding one. Her head wasn’t even the size of my palm. I’m glad I went, it was a good experience. In the car ride back, mom’s boyfriend, Richard, also said he was glad I went. We went out for milkshakes. I feel guilty for thinking he was a bad guy at first. He apologized for being mean in the first few weeks, he was getting over an alcohol problem but he’s been getting help and trying his best. I had no idea. He’s trying to make it up to mom and I now, he says. I trust him, but only time will tell._

 

     Chanyeol found himself tearing up after this passage; his sister had had a baby just after he was put into this program. He hadn’t even gotten to hold his nephew even once. It wasn’t fair. He turned the page and startled as another picture fell out of the pages. This one took his breath away.

     It was an Asian guy with huge eyes and full lips, and it looked like he was laughing when the picture was taken. _This must be Kyungsoo,_ Chanyeol thinks. This was definitely the most attractive person he’d ever seen. He stared at Kyungsoo’s cute mouth until he realized his mouth was open and he was drooling a little.

     In Kyungsoo’s arms was a baby so tiny it couldn’t have been more than a week old. The baby was peacefully asleep, dressed in a soft-looking pink romper. Chanyeol cooed at the little booties she had on her tiny feet. She didn’t look anything like Kyungsoo, so this was probably Richard’s niece.

     After a few minutes, Chanyeol’s eyes roamed back to Kyungsoo. He couldn’t help it, the boy was _so_ beautiful. Even if the picture was a little blurry, and his mouth was open like he was in the middle of speaking, he was still so breathtaking.

     Chanyeol shook his head and slammed the notebook shut. It wouldn’t be proper to develop feelings for someone who died hundreds of years ago. But…it wasn’t a _crime_ to look, right? Against his better judgment, he plucked the picture of Kyungsoo out of the journal and propped it up on his bedside table. If he was lucky, Kyungsoo would be the first thing he saw when he woke up. He settled into bed, putting the journal safely two feet away from him. He dreamt of Kyungsoo’s pretty eyes and thick lips, and what his laugh must sound like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i originally planned for chanyeol to see kyungsoo's face in chapter 5, but i just couldn't wait any longer!!!!
> 
> this is unbeta-d so please forgive any errors or weird sentences, sometimes spellcheck isn't my friend. please leave feedback if you liked the chapter or story! again please let me know if anything is too confusing or i failed to explain something!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaa hello again!!! it's been a while!! so sorry about the wait, ive been going back and forth with myself about posting this chapter... but as you can see i finally decided to post it! to be honest i lost steam for this fic and thats why i just couldn't write anything for it for a while, but i'm back and raring to go now! (hopefully...) i'll try to keep the updates more frequent so you dont have to go through such a long wait again ^^ enjoy the chapter!

     Chanyeol tries his best to forget about the journal. It’ll only make things harder, he knows that. He tries to forget how gorgeous Kyungsoo’s smile is, how sparkly his eyes are, how big his hands looked. He tries really, really hard to forget…and he only lasts an hour.

     It’s not like there’s much else to do in his room. If he wants to watch television, he’d have to go to one of the public living areas, and he doesn’t feel like interacting with people this early in the morning. So he caves and opens up the journal and finds a good, long passage near where he last left off.

 

_July 14 th, 2010. Richard says he’s going to take mom and I on a road trip around the state. It sounds fun, but exhausting. Also I can’t bring Yejin along, so I’ll be worried about her. He assured me that he’s already found someone to watch her, and they’ll be glad to send pictures of her whenever I want. It seems like he’s taken a lot of time planning this out. Mom was thrilled, too, and we decided we’d leave on Friday, the 16th, and come back Friday the 30th, two weeks later. I can’t remember the last time I went on a vacation that wasn’t to Korea. I’ll just have to give Yejin lots of extra kisses so she won’t miss me. _

     Chanyeol was clutching his chest at the image of Kyungsoo kissing his cat, even if it was the ugliest creature he’d ever seen. The entries leading up to the 30th are short recounts of what Kyungsoo did that day; seeing a lighthouse, eating at a real lobster shack, and sleeping in a tent for the very first time. Chanyeol couldn’t stop himself from smiling while imagining Kyungsoo doing these things.

     Chanyeol turned the page and, as he expected, tons of old photos fell from between the pages onto his chest. Kyungsoo mentioned in one of his entries that he had brought his camera, so of course he’d store his precious photos in his journal. Chanyeol gathered them all up and prepared to look through them.

     The first was bordering on angelic; Kyungsoo taking a selfie while holding Yejin in one arm as she nuzzled against his chubby cheek. Chanyeol replaced the picture of Kyungsoo and Richard’s niece on his bedside table with this one.

     The next few were of the road. It didn’t look like it took them too long to get to their vacation spot, but Kyungsoo sure made the most of the trip by taking so many pictures.

     After that came pictures of the rocky beach, then Kyungsoo on the beach in swimming trunks and a faded t-shirt. Chanyeol could only guess who was taking the picture, but in several pictures, Kyungsoo to whoever was behind the camera and smiling his big, heart-shaped smile. He found a particularly good shot of Kyungsoo laughing with the sun and ocean behind him and set it aside.

     A couple pictures of the meals he ate, including one of a cooked lobster served in a wire basket. There was one specific shot that caught Chanyeol’s eye; it was Kyungsoo in the middle of eating, with no consideration for how he looked in that moment. Both of his plump, ruddy cheeks were full of food, yet he was still shoveling more into his mouth. He looked so happy that Chanyeol had to set that one aside, too.

     There were also pictures of a lighthouse. Dozens of shots from every angle, then a few of Kyungsoo posing in front of it by himself, followed by one of him and his mother. Finally there was a selfie of Kyungsoo, his mom, and a man who Chanyeol assumed to be Richard. Between the two adults, Kyungsoo looked so short! Richard was a whole head taller than him! Chanyeol couldn’t believe it. Maybe this Richard guy was just freakishly tall? He couldn’t imagine Kyungsoo being so short. But then Chanyeol thought of Kyungsoo only coming up to his shoulder, and nuzzling his face into Chanyeol’s chest. Maybe Kyungsoo being short wasn’t so bad.

     There were a couple pictures of the tent Kyungsoo slept in, but it was too dark to see well. Chanyeol let his imagination fill in the blanks. He imagined Kyungsoo all curled up in a sleeping bag, clinging to Chanyeol and rubbing his face onto Chanyeol’s arms like a cat would. Then when he woke up, his hair would be in a million different directions, and he’d be grumpy from being woken up, but content to cuddle up to Chanyeol while he made them some coffee. How do you make coffee without a replicator? For Kyungsoo, Chanyeol would find a way.

     The rest of the pictures followed the same theme, but nothing noteworthy except the last one. Kyungsoo was holding Yejin again, much like in the first picture, but this time she looked disgusted with him, as if she was angry at him for leaving. Chanyeol was warming up to Yejin, even though he still thought she was the ugliest thing on four legs.

     He gathered up the photos and put them back between the journal’s pages, then looked at the ones he’d kept. He decided to carry two with him in his pocket and leave the first selfie with Yejin on his nightstand. He knew this was bordering on obsessive, but he couldn’t stop. He was getting so fond of Kyungsoo, even though they were worlds apart.

 

* * *

 

 

     Later that day, Chanyeol went in for a late afternoon shift at the juice bar. After the lunch rush, it was relatively boring, and Chanyeol couldn’t help but reach into his pocket for his pictures of Kyungsoo. He was grinning at the picture of him eating when Kai came up and startled him into almost dropping the photo. Kai laughed while Chanyeol scrambled to put them back into his pocket. “Who was that?”

     Chanyeol struggled to come up with an excuse, but couldn’t find one fast enough. He just stared at Kai, cheeks flushed after being caught.

     “D’you remember the journal? I found this picture in it," Chanyeol explains, showing off the one of Kyungsoo stuffing his cheeks with lobster.

     “And you…carry it around with you now?” Kai questioned, brows furrowed. At Chanyeol’s hesitant nod, Kai asked, “why?”

     Again Chanyeol floundered for an excuse, and again he found he couldn’t come up with one. But he couldn’t very well say, ‘ _oh it’s no big deal really, just that I might be falling in love with someone who died so long ago his remains are probably dust.’_

     Kai just huffed, then said, “maybe I shouldn’t have given you that journal.”

     Chanyeol balked. “What? Why?! I’ve learned a lot from it!”

     “Ok, name one thing you’ve learned from it,” Kai rebutted.

     For the third time that day, Chanyeol’s mouth was opening and closing in silence. Kai just crossed his arms and nodded.

     “See, you’re obsessed. I think you should stop reading it.”

     Even the thought of not finishing the journal made Chanyeol’s heart turn to ice. He couldn’t bear it if he had to stop reading about Kyungsoo’s mundane life-his cat, his school assignments, his neighbors-he foolishly felt like he was part of Kyungsoo’s life. Eventually, he would finish the journal and have to face the fact that Kyungsoo was most certainly dead, but Chanyeol hadn’t realized that yet. He was still clinging to false hope.

     “I can’t stop reading it,” Chanyeol whined. “I don’t want to. And anyway, I already tried. I can’t _not_ read it. There’s nothing else to do, anyway.”

     Kai sighed as if he was trying to stop himself from yelling. “Here’s something to do: meet someone, fall in love, get married. Get out of this hellhole. That’s the only way to do it, and you’re here holing yourself up in your quarters, fixated on some dead kid’s diary. This is not helping you at all.”

     Chanyeol tightened his fists until they were shaking. “I don’t want…I don’t want to meet someone here. You know that. Or at least I thought you did. We’re not as close as we used to be,” Chanyeol said somberly.

     Kai glowered before stalking off. Chanyeol took a few deep breaths to rid himself of the bad energy coming from both Kai and himself. Maybe Kai will see it his way soon.

 

* * *

 

 

     That night, like every night for a while now, Chanyeol went to his quarters and curled up with Kyungsoo’s journal. There were nothing but short entries until the end of August, which was followed by a few blank pages. Panicking, Chanyeol thought he had already hit the end of the journal, but there were many passages after the blank pages. There were also a few pictures wedged beneath the pages, but he set those aside for now. He read the last entry before the pause.

 

_August 10 th, 2010. Summer vacation is almost over…this journal was only supposed to be for the vacation, so I won’t write during the school year. If I take any pictures of Yejin, I’ll put them here. _

     Ah, that explains it. Chanyeol imagined Kyungsoo to be a very focused and one-track person if he could stop writing altogether to focus on his schoolwork. After reading that, he noticed a tiny line of writing at the bottom of the page.

_December 20 th, 2010. Please enjoy this picture of Yejin dressed as Santa._

     It was the first time Kyungsoo addressed the reader, as if he knew someone other than him was going to be reading it. Chanyeol felt moved. He imprudently let himself think, what if Kyungsoo somehow knew? Logically, there was no way Kyungsoo could have predicted the demise of 99% of Earth’s population, and that a half alien could be reading his journal several hundred years later, but just maybe… Chanyeol could hope, right?

     Chanyeol leaves the entries after the blank pages for another time, and decides to go to sleep. As usual, he can’t get thoughts of Kyungsoo out of his head, but this time is different. This time he’s wondering how Kyungsoo would think of him. Would he think Chanyeol is a creep for reading his private journal? Would he think he was weird for being half alien? Would he think Chanyeol is cute?

     Chanyeol didn’t get much sleep that night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG IM SO SORRY I KNOW ITS BEEN FOREVER T__T but i have every intention of finishing this story so dont worry!! it might take me a while tho ^_^; pls enjoy this extra long chapter!!

The next morning, after replicating a whole pot of coffee to wake him up, Chanyeol dragged himself to work. He resolutely left Kyungsoo’s journal within the safety of his room. Junmyeon had not-so-politely suggested he refrain from bringing it to work so it wouldn’t ‘distract’ him. But how can he not be distracted? At this point he knows he’s obsessed, but he doesn’t care. He’s basically given up on leaving this dock, hasn’t he? What else is he supposed to do with his life other than think about Kyungsoo?

Once he made it to the cafeteria, Chanyeol weakly greeted Junmyeon, who gave him a pitying look.

“Just looking at you is making me tired,” he remarked. “Did you get _any_ sleep last night?” Chanyeol shook his head, scrubbing his hands over his face in a last-ditch attempt not to pass out onto the counter.

“Well, if I were you, I’d get rid of that journal.”

Chanyeol felt himself snapping and barked, “you’re _not_ me, ok? Everyone seems to know exactly what I should do. Just keep your suggestions to yourself.”

Junmyeon just glared--it was more of a stern, concerned look, but for Junmyeon it might as well be a glare. Chanyeol felt way too tense, like his bones would snap from the weight of Junmyeon’s stare. He feared he’d only be met with more ‘advice’, but Junmyeon just murmured, “I’m worried about you, Chanyeol. We all are.”

At that, Chanyeol sighed. He knows he’s worrying his friends, but when he’s not thinking about the journal, his life feels meaningless. He was just floating through life, but now he has something interesting to latch onto. Without it, he realizes how empty his life is. Learning about Kyungsoo’s life cuts through his misery. One day, he’ll probably stop. But not any time soon.

“I know you are, but just…I’ll be fine. Okay? I’m fine. You have to believe me,” Chanyeol almost begged. Junmyeon just nodded, then went back to his work of cleaning out glasses. It looked like they had an understanding, for now.

 

* * *

 

Evening found Chanyeol hunched over his desk with his lamplight trained on the pages of Kyungsoo’s journal. As if he’d be anywhere else.

Turns out Kyungsoo was serious about not writing anymore; the entries skip from December to June, and a few pictures of Kyungsoo in his cap and gown are settled between the pages. There were less pictures than Chanyeol was hoping for, but that’s alright. Seeing Kyungsoo’s blinding smile and his scrunched up eyes behind his thick glasses still had the same heart wrenching effect on Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo writes briefly about how he’s taking a gap year before starting university to work and have some savings built up for college. He even included a picture of the front of the store he’d be working in, and a picture of their new apartment building, both located in New Jersey. Chanyeol did a quick search on his PADD and saw many images of this so-called ‘New Jersey’. Deep down, he knew that the home Kyungsoo once knew was now rubble, but he tried not to think about it.

There were a couple more pictures of the streets outside Kyungsoo’s work and home; no selfies, unfortunately. Chanyeol fell asleep a few hours later with his favorite photos of Kyungsoo clutched to his chest.

 

* * *

 

 

The last person Chanyeol was expecting to see showed up at the cafeteria the next day. He stared blankly when Minseok greeted him like an old friend, sliding into one of the stools in front of the bar. Chanyeol hadn’t seen him since they were first introduced, but a few seconds of staring and he caught himself, giving Minseok a toothy smile.

“What can I get for you?” Chanyeol asked.

Minseok sighed, clasping his hands on top of the bar. “Actually, I just wanted to talk to you. When do you get off work?”

Chanyeol was taken aback, but he didn’t feel any ulterior motive from Minseok, so he didn’t see any harm in his request. Actually, come to think of it, he’d never felt much of anything from Minseok. He seemed like a guarded individual, like he knew something he shouldn’t and the guilt bled into his personality.

“Um, I get off in about an hour. You don’t mind, do you?” Chanyeol asked sheepishly.

Minseok shook his head with a smile, and did end up asking for a warm drink to pass the time. They chatted between customers, but it was pretty dead right before closing, so there was a lot of silence.

Finally, after wiping down the counters and such, Chanyeol hung up his apron and turned to Minseok with a big smile, which he returned. “My quarters or yours?”

Chanyeol tried to remember what state his quarters were in; it’s almost laundry day, and he hasn’t dusted in a while…it’s the thought of all his Kyungsoo photos that make him say, “yours would be better.”

With a nod, Minseok directed him down one of the corridors to a part of the space port Chanyeol hadn’t been to. Seeing Chanyeol’s confusion, Minseok explained, “they gave me a bigger room since I was in Starfleet. Considering that I was kicked out, I thought they’d put me in a closet.”

As soon as both of them were inside, Minseok croaked out, “computer, lock the door.”

Chanyeol let out a little nervous chuckle on reflex, and he felt nervousness oozing from Minseok now. Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to talk privately. Maybe he could knock Minseok out and then bang on the door until someone walked by, or-

“Hey, what’s with that face? You look really scared!” Minseok stated. “Sorry for being creepy, I just wanted to make sure no one would interrupt us.”

After breathing out a sigh of relief, Chanyeol could take in the room-it definitely was bigger than his own. It had a dining area and table, equipped with a larger replicator than Chanyeol’s own, the kind you see in restaurant kitchens or starship cafeterias. There was also an alcove at the back that Chanyeol assumed held the bedroom area. It looked like the bathroom was bigger, too. Chanyeol remarked, “this looks  a lot like Baekhyun’s quarters.”

“Baekhyun? I don’t think I’ve met him…they reserve these for expecting couples, I think,” Minseok replied, directing Chanyeol to sit at the dining table.

With a nod, Chanyeol stated, “that would make sense, considering Baekhyun’s girlfriend is pregnant. She could give birth any day, now. The gestation period was pretty iffy since she’s, uh…Romulan, I think.” Chanyeol didn’t mean to babble, and he felt a bit embarrassed. With another half-hearted laugh, he said, “anyways, what is it you wanted to talk about?”

Minseok’s amiable expression melted away then. Chanyeol felt like he was about to be told something diabolical.

Minseok began, “well, the other night, Kai and I were together, and he complained to me about you and the journal you’ve been carrying around.” Chanyeol’s heart sank; of course it was another scolding about Kyungsoo’s journal. But, Minseok quickly backpedaled. “No, no, I’m not going to tell you you’re childish or stupid, or anything like that. In fact, I think it’s really beautiful. The boy in that journal…you’ve fallen in love with him, haven’t you?”

Put on the spot, Chanyeol wanted to deny it to his last breath, but Minseok had already proven himself to be understanding. So Chanyeol nodded. Minseok smiled big, showing his gums.

“See? Isn’t that amazing? There’s a chasm of hundreds of years between you, yet you’ve fallen for him. I think it should be celebrated,” Minseok said. Then he leaned in conspiratorially, and said, “but that’s not the point. Now I’m going to tell you why I called you here. You can’t repeat this to _anyone_. If you do, we’ll be killed-or worse.”

Sparing a second to imagine what could be worse than death, Chanyeol shuddered, then nodded. Minseok nodded back.

“You know I was in Starfleet, right? Okay. Well, I got kicked out for stealing a shuttlecraft…but you know that already. I said I was going to come here and bail everyone out of here, but that was just a cover-up. If the admirals knew what I was really trying to do, they would’ve sent me to a mining colony somewhere to die at age 30. Or they would’ve killed me themselves. I was going to go back in time.” At this, Minseok paused, gauging Chanyeol’s reaction. But Chanyeol didn’t have a reaction, he just stared wide-eyed at Minseok with his mouth gaping.

Finally, Chanyeol ventured a “why?” which seemed to excite Minseok.

“I was hoping you’d ask. You know about what happened on Earth, right? The eugenics war? 99% of Earth’s population was wiped out in a matter of hours. You learned all this in history class. Well, according to classified history recounts that are only available to Starfleet officers, there was one of the superhumans who _didn’t_ want to kill everyone. His name was Kim Jongdae, and he was plotting to undermine the operation. He was the one who tried to contact the Vulcans for help. Of course, something went wrong…the Vulcans showed up too late, or something. The others found out about Jongdae’s plot and they killed him. And of course, Vulcan’s don’t believe in killing their enemies. I mean, you see how Romulans are still around. So the Vulcans refused to help the remaining humans kill the superhumans. Apparently they’re still down there on Earth, running things.” Minseok paused again. “Are you still following me?”

Chanyeol gave a shaky nod; this was a lot to process. But at his assent, Minseok continued.

“I was going to go back in time to prevent the eugenics wars from happening. If our population didn’t get wiped out, then we wouldn’t have to be locked up here like-like breeding stock! And first contact with the Vulcans would be less…bittersweet. Think of the advances in technology that we would make, a lot sooner because we have so many minds. I know, everything happens for a reason, but there was no reason for such a loss of life, at the hands of people that we gave life and special abilities. As for the superhumans, I don’t know what will happen to them, and I don’t really care. Anyone capable of that much mass murder shouldn’t have even been given life. But I’m getting off topic. You’re still with me, right?”

Chanyeol sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. “God, that’s crazy! Time travel is, like, one of the worst crimes you could commit! Think of everything that could go wrong! Do you even know how to time travel?”

“I think it’s hypocritical for Starfleet to say time travel is illegal, but then order Jim Kirk to do it,” Minseok snapped. “And yes, before I was sent back here, I read everything about Admiral Kirk’s mission that wasn’t classified. In layman’s terms, he did a slingshot around the sun and it sent him to the past. Then, when he was ready to return, he did the same thing, and it brought him back. It involved a lot of computations and equations, but I don’t want to confuse you anymore. I’ve already figured out how to get to 2012 exactly, one hour before the first bomb drops. I’m going to find Kim Jongdae and tell him that the others know about his plan and are going to attack early so there won’t be any help until it’s too late. Then I’ll come back and…see what kind of universe I’ve created. Hopefully a better one than this,” Minseok stated proudly.

Before Chanyeol could take all of that in, he still had one glaring question that had yet to be answered: “why are you telling me all of this?”

“Ah,” Minseok nodded, “I thought you’d ask that. It’d definitely be easier with someone to watch my back. And as for why I chose you, well…you honestly can’t figure it out?”

Briefly, Chanyeol thought it was because of his minor telepathic abilities, but then he realized. “Kyungsoo.” Minseok grinned like a madman. “You want me to go back with you and-what, bring Kyungsoo _here_?”

“I was just going to say meet him, but that works too. And when we get back, if everything works out, you two could live wherever you wanted. Imagine a life where we didn’t have to be stuck here. Imagine seeing your mom again, your sister, your dad. How long has it been since you held your nephew? If this works, you could see them every day if you wanted. Or if you wanted, you could go live on Betazed. You would have a choice,” Minseok rambled.

“How did you know I have a nephew?” Chanyeol asked.

Minseok just rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Is that really all you got from that? Kai told me.”

“Wait, does Kai know? About this?”

Minseok shook his head. “I wanted to tell him, but he…he’s not cut out for this. He acts tough, sure, but you and I know the real Kai. Well, the real Jongin. He’s shy and considerate, but this place beat it out of him.” Chanyeol nodded solemnly. He was here to watch as Kai’s whole being was sapped from him by the dread of their situation. “If we do this, maybe he’ll go back to his old self. If he’s never trapped here, he’ll go back to being the Jongin I remember.”

Chanyeol laughed. “You sound like a salesman.”

“I know, but…look, I get that this is a difficult decision. This will change everything that’s happened for the past several hundred years. If you decide you don’t want any part in it, I’ll find someone else. But just think about it, okay? Think really long and hard about it,” Minseok said, finally standing from the table.

He wouldn’t have to worry about that, Chanyeol was already overthinking it. He bid Minseok farewell and walked back to his own quarters, pensive. It had gotten to be pretty late; the lights in the halls were dimmed after curfew, and Chanyeol kept a hand on the wall to steady himself in the dim light.

He wanted to sleep, but he ended up laying awake for almost another hour, rethinking and analyzing every one of Minseok’s words. He knows that time travel is a huge offense, but he’s tired. Chanyeol is tired of being here and he wants to see his family. His weary eyes settled on the picture of Kyungsoo he has on his nightstand.

Yes, he decides, some things are worth the risk. He sleeps like a rock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally something happens, right?!  
> things are about to get interesting ;)


	6. announcement

hello!!!! wow, it's been a while. almost a year to the day. anyways...if you still care about this fic, i do have every intention of finishing it. i'm so so sorry about the incredibly long wait, i just got really bummed out with my own writing limitations and everything i put out didn't seem good enough for this fic. it's still very dear to me, and i think about it alot, so i want to finally finish it. i can't make any promises...BUT i definitely won't make you wait another year for the ending. also there might be sort of a tonal shift in the upcoming chapters, but that's because i've gained some self-awareness and realized that dramatic storytelling isn't at all my style. i like making people laugh, and it's what i'm most comfortable with. so the second half of this story might seem a bit...hammy. i hope you can enjoy it regardless. as always, any comments are greatly appreciated. i'm actually kind of curious if anyone is still following this. if you are, your patience has finally paid off! i'm getting carried away.

long story short, the rest of this fic is coming, and hopefully i've grown as a writer during the infuriatingly long wait. thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed it!! if anything about the setting or chanyeol's abilities was unclear, please let me know! i want even non star trek fans to be able to read the fic, so i want everything to be as simple as possible.


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